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Wichita to rename airport for President Eisenhower?

Could Wichita become the latest city to rename its airport for a U.S. president? The Wichita Eagle says the city plans to appoint a committee to decide whether to change the name of Wichita's Mid-Continent

In its report, the Eagle writes "the naming advisory committee grew out of a one-hour debate at Tuesday's City Council meeting over whether to rename the new terminal or the entire airport after the nation's 34th president, a Kansan from Abilene."

People from both sides of the debate made their views known at the Tuesday council meeting.

"I think the renaming of this airport has to do with an attitude our city is going to project to the nation, world and ourselves," council member James Clendenin is quoted as saying by the Eagle. "I still hear people in this community who have an inferiority complex about our amazing city."

"The current name (Mid-Continent Airport) is a little mediocre," Clendenin adds. "This is about honoring a great president ... and allowing ourselves to be great as well."

However, others disputed that viewing, with a former county commissioner arguing that the Mid-Continent name is "the greatest name on Earth," according to the Eagle's account.

What's next? KAKE says "the naming committee will gather information, and suggest names for the airport. The final decision will be up to the City Council."

It was not clear from the reports what timetable – if any – the naming committee faces in presenting its findings. And one airport official tells the Eagle he thinks the committee is resistant on the idea of renaming the entire airport.

But one thing all sides seem to agree on is that a name change would not produce a spike in business at Kansas' busiest airport.

"Changing the name of the airport should be focused strictly on honoring Ike," Wichita airport director Victor White says to the Eagle.